I made my way to the door and winked at her. “Hashtag ‘all the swoons.’”
Blakely chuckled and fanned her face as I made my way back to work.
“So Caroline won’t be coming on my birthday anymore?” Harper asked over a mouthful of noodles. I could see the relief on her face, and I was grateful that her mother had chosen to do the right thing.
You can’t be halfway there as a parent.
It was an all-or-nothing gig, and her mother had never been all in.
But I would always be grateful that she’d come to me and given me the choice to be a dad.
“Right. She’s going to get married and start her own life. Because we have a good thing going on our own over here,” I said.
Violet was just smiling at my daughter as she twirled her noodles around her fork.
“And I’m happy that even though Violet moved back to her house, I still get to see her every day,” my daughter said.
“I told your daddy something today. But he doesn’t know that I actually said it to you first,” Violet said.
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him that I love him. But I told you I loved you first.” My girlfriend chuckled.
“But I knew you loved Daddy when you told me you loved me. And he loved you then too.” Harper pushed out of her chair and climbed onto Violet’s lap. “You’re not just my best friend, Vi. You’re my family. We’re a real family.”
I’d worried so much about doing this right. About being careful with how we involved Harper.
But she’d been involved from the minute Violet moved into our backyard.
From breakfasts and long talks and balloon arches.
She’d been a part of this family before she and I were smart enough to figure out how we felt.
My daughter didn’t need protecting from anyone.
She saw the best in people.
She was open to love.
I just turned and watched my two girls hugging in the chair beside me.
This was what it felt like to be happy.
Everything I needed was right here in this kitchen.
And I was going to do everything I could to hold on to them.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Violet
The morning had started out gray as rain clouds hovered above.
I was convinced that Pissy Missy had brought the doom and gloom with her to Blushing, Alaska.
But the last two days had been tolerable because Paris, Huntington, and Brenton were here. They’d met Charlie and Harper, and we’d all stayed up late last night talking before Charlie had to get his little girl home and in bed.
I was shocked that Missy had actually agreed to let them stay with me. Even though they were grown adults, she’d always been a helicopter mom on steroids the way she tried to control everything they did. My brothers stayed in the guest room, and Paris slept with me.
